They learn to think - beforehand

– Now after the course, we are using the overhead lift more often and taking better care of ourselves. We stop to think beforehand, says Susanna Berglund, head of unit and responsible for working environment at the orthopaedic ward at Sunderby Hospital in Luleå, Sweden.

Sunderby Hospital in Luleå, Sweden, has recently employed Liko for a couple of courses – Evidence-Based Back Representative Course 2003 and Evidence-Based Prescriber Course 2004. LikoNews went there to hear what the courses have meant to the staff.

Along one of the big glazed-in streets in the new hospital is orthopaedic ward 31. Physiotherapy and occupational therapy are among the closest neighbours.

– Orthopaedics is the physically heaviest ward in a hospital. The greater part of our day consists of heavy lifting and transporting, says Susanna Berglund. Here are 36 hospital beds with a large deal of hip fractures, where the patients' average age is 84 years, but here is also where younger victims of traffic and snow scooter accidents end up.

Learn to stop to think beforehand

When Liko arranged a back representative course, two assistant nurses at the orthopaedic ward took advantage of the opportunity. People from several wards and from different counties also participated in the training.

– In the course it is pointed out that you should plan before moving patients, says Monica Wikberg.

– Yes, now we try to use the different aids more, says Margareta Bergström.

For the boss Susanna Berglund it feels good to have access to two back representatives who can be consulted before transfers. And she notes that the number of people on sick leave for back and neck complaints has not increased in the two last years.

– But of course it would be good if more people take the course.

But what about the patients, then? Do they profit from the training of the personnel?

The personnel is united in their answer:

– Both the transfers and the patients become calmer, safer and more secure. But it is also a planning matter – to ensure that several people are helping.

Prescribers are trained, also

Last autumn an evidence-based prescriber course was also held for occupational therapists and physiotherapists at the Sunderby Hospital. One of the participants was the occupational therapist Anita Levén, who found the course very rewarding. It showed how one can use the aids for transfers and simultaneously make the patient more active.

Anita Levén underlines that it is question of rehabilitation and finding safer transfers which make the patients active. There are a number of alternatives between using an electric lift and manual toil.

– The course taught us to reflect upon what is best for each situation. It taught us to think more structurally of what the patient can do and which aids I can use, and to do a risk analysis. The prescriber course also contained theoretical elements.

– It was good that Bodil Nilsson presented the latest research findings on transfers and effort, says Anita Levén.

The physiotherapist Lars Backe considers that the prescriber course has led to his becoming more aware of how you can use the aids better.

– We do want the patients to be able to take care of themselves as much as possible, but the course showed us how we can use, for instance, the overhead lift and the sit-to-stand lift Sabina instead of wearing ourselves out. This is valid especially for the caregivers.

Patients appreciate transfer

Sometimes it is a question of balance between the needs of staff and patients, but Lars Backe considers that one also needs to ask oneself which value a transfer really has for the patient.

– Was the patient afraid or was she completely worn out by the transfer? I have seen exemplary transfers up to standing with a raising lift. Now I realise that we have been using it much too seldom.